Assessing How Risk Communication Surveillance Prompts COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance Among Internet Users by Applying the Situational Theory of Problem Solving: Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization has recently raised concerns regarding the low number of people fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The low ratio of fully vaccinated people and the emergence of renewed infectious variants correspond to worsening public health. Global health managers have highlighted COVID-19 vaccine-related infodemics as a significant risk perception factor hindering mass vaccination campaigns. OBJECTIVE: Given the ambiguous digital communication environment that has fostered infodemics, resource-limited nations struggle to boost public willingness to encourage people to fully vaccinate. Authorities have launched some risk communication-laden digital interventions in response to infodemics. However, the value of the risk communication strategies used to tackle infodemics needs to be evaluated. The current research using the tenets of the Situational Theory of Problem Solving is novel, as it explores the impending effects of risk communication strategies. The relationship between infodemic-induced risk perception of COVID-19 vaccine safety and risk communication actions to intensify willingness to be fully vaccinated was examined. METHODS: This study used a cross-sectional research design vis-à-vis a nationally representative web-based survey. We collected data from 1946 internet users across Pakistan. Participants voluntarily participated in this research after completing the consent form and reading ethical permissions. Responses were received over 3 months, from May 2022 to July 2022. RESULTS: The results delineated that infodemics positively affected risk perception. This realization pushed the public to engage in risky communicative actions through reliance on and searches for accurate information. Therefore, the prospect of managing infodemics through risk information exposure (eg, digital interventions) using the situational context could predict robust willingness to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: These pioneering results offer strategic considerations for health authorities to effectively manage the descending spiral of optimal protection against COVID-19. This research concludes that the likelihood of managing infodemics using situational context through exposure to relevant information could improve one's knowledge of forfending and selection, which can lead to robust protection against COVID-19. Hence, more situation-specific information about the underlying problem (ie, the selection of an appropriate vaccine) can be made accessible through several official digital sources to achieve a more active public health response.

Unlocking infodemics and mysteries in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: Nexus of conspiracy beliefs, digital informational support, psychological Well-being, and religious fatalism.

Guarding against an anti-science camouflage within infodemics is paramount for sustaining the global vaccination drive. Vaccine hesitancy remains a growing concern and a significant threat to public health, especially in developing countries. Infodemics, conspiracy beliefs and religious fatalism primarily fuel vaccine hesitancy. In addition, anti-vaccine disinformation, lack of understanding, and erroneous religious beliefs also trigger vaccine hesitancy. Global behavioral strategies such as wearing face masks and long-term preventive measures (i.e., COVID-19 vaccination) have effectively limited the virus's spread. Despite the alarming rate of global deaths (i.e., over 99% being unvaccinated), a large proportion of the global population remains reluctant to vaccinate. New evidence validates the usefulness of technology-driven communication strategies (i.e., digital interventions) to address the complex socio-psychological influence of the pandemic. Hence, the present research explored the digital information processing model to assess the interface between informational support (through digital interventions) and antecedents of vaccine hesitancy. This research involved two separate studies: a focus group to operationalize the construct of infodemics, which remained ambiguous in previous literature (Study 1), followed by a cross-sectional survey (Study 2) to examine the conceptual model. Data were collected from 1906 respondents through a standard questionnaire administered online. The focus group's findings revealed a multi-dimensional nature of infodemics that was also validated in Study 2. The cross-sectional survey results substantiated infodemics, religious fatalism and conspiracy beliefs as significant predictors of vaccine hesitancy. Similarly, conspiracy beliefs negatively influence an individual's psychological well-being. Furthermore, information support (through digital intervention) affected infodemics and religious fatalism, whereas it inversely influenced the strength of their relationships with vaccine hesitancy. Information support (through digital intervention) also moderated the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and psychological well-being.

Immunity debt or vaccination crisis? A multi-method evidence on vaccine acceptance and media framing for emerging COVID-19 variants.

Renewed COVID-19 outbreaks, stemming from the highly infectious Delta and Omicron variants, prompted rising fears of a 'pandemic among the unvaccinated'. To address this prevalent vaccination crisis, media framing communication strategies can amplify the scientific evidence on COVID-19 vaccines to reach diverse geographic and socio-economic communities. The critical role of media framing strategies to engage and encourage large populations regarding vaccine acceptance has been rarely studied, despite growing evidence on vaccine hesitancy. The present study used a multi-method approach (i.e., content analysis and quasi-experiments) that unpacked the framing practices employed by the mainstream media in Pakistan. The findings of the content analysis revealed that the media extensively used uncertainty, conflict, consequences, and action rather than new evidence and reassurance frames in its COVID-19 related campaigns. In a series of quasi-experiments involving 720 participants, we manipulated these six frames of COVID-19 related news coverage (i.e., uncertainty, conflict, consequences, action, new evidence, and reassurance) to investigate the underlying mechanism that influences vaccine acceptance. The findings established that the message-consistent effects of media frames manifesting fear (e.g., consequence and uncertainty) and action cues made receivers more supportive of vaccination. The present study findings theoretically address the calls for a more inclusive "community-health reporting model", besides offering new evidence on the media framing strategies to deliver more targeted, meaningful, and effective campaigns to raise public acceptance for COVID-19 vaccines.

Seniors and mobiles: A qualitative inquiry of mHealth adoption among Singapore seniors.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines how seniors in Singapore use mobile devices for healthcare purposes. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews with 35 mobile phone users aged between 58-82 years old. RESULTS: Seniors regard mobile phones as important personal devices for socialization, security, and emergency purposes. Most of the seniors consider mobile telephony (voice calls and text messaging) as an accessible platform to access healthcare. Perceived usefulness, ease of use, compatibility, technology anxiety, financial cost, and self-efficacy were identified as factors affecting the use of mHealth among seniors. Although a few adopt mHealth applications and mobile Internet for health-information seeking, some younger seniors show enthusiastic attitudes toward its adoption. Additionally, some seniors also have technology anxiety and resistance toward using mHealth applications. CONCLUSION: Seniors use mobile phones for healthcare purposes in their daily life, and its use involves several facilitators and barriers. Interpersonal training is likely to reduce their anxiety and increase mHealth literacy and adoption. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.